The Spirit of the Season
by asearcher
Summary: Written to a 12-2010 Holiday Fiction Challenge at The Delphic Expanse.  Archer gives an order providing a little flexibility and gets a nice surprise in response.


Disclaimer: All publicly recognizable characters, settings, etc. are the property of their respective owners. The original characters and plot are the property of the author. The author is in no way associated with the owners, creators, or producers of any media franchise. No copyright infringement is intended.

**The Spirit of the Season**

Archer was lost in thought as he made his way back to his quarters. The day had been like most since they'd resumed their mission of exploration. They'd documented three comets, a Minshara class planet they would need to put on the watch list for warp development, and a moon that might hold a treasure trove of what had been known as rare Earth minerals before they had been found elsewhere. He was currently examining a PADD with the next weeks duty roster when Lt. Matheson came around the corner and bumped into him.

"Hey watch…" the lieutenant started, before realizing who he was addressing. Immediately standing at attention, he changed his tune quickly. "Sorry, Captain. I should have been more careful."

The man had been carrying some boxes and tubes which now were scattered around the corridor. Noticing that the tubes held brightly colored paper, Jon smiled. "At ease. Let's just get this cleaned up." He helped Matheson pick up the mess.

"With Christmas just a week away, I've got a lot of wrapping to do. Thank you for giving us permission to decorate our doors."

Smiling as he noted the various creative displays that now graced many of the portals to crew quarters, the captain shrugged. "As long as it doesn't affect ship's efficiency, I thought it might be a good morale booster." He placed the last of the tubes on top of the pile.

"Thank you, Sir." Having regained his load, he completed his conversation. "It has been that. I think everyone's really looking forward to the holiday party as well."

"Chef promises it'll feel like being home for the holidays," He paused. "Without snow, of course. Commander Tucker wanted to try but I had to draw the line at diverting our water supply for decorations."

"Of course, Sir. Well, happy holidays." The lieutenant continued on his way.

Archer chuckled slightly, noticing once again the various displays. They covered several belief systems from Earth: Christmas, Hanukkah, Kwanzaa, some pagan, and several secular or winter representations as well.

Hoshi had decorated her door with a Japanese rice paper painting of a traditional Japanese landscape. Well, mostly traditional. The Christmas trees on the side of the craggy mountain spoke to her whimsy.

Travis had put up a tree shaped holder on his door. On each of the hooks was a different ornament obviously collected from places he had been to both before and after he'd joined the _Enterprise_ crew.

He wasn't at all surprised at Malcolm's simple but decorative sign with 'Happy Holidays' written in script. His tactical officer had originally been against the decorating idea as he felt it would take away, in his opinion, the _military_ look of the ship. Archer had pointed out that limiting the decorations to crew quarters and the mess hall would prevent the crew from going overboard. Apparently, he'd decided to go with the flow in his own Reed fashion.

He'd had to amend that order slightly to accommodate the ship's physician. When Phlox found out about the bending of the rules, he wanted to put up a few Denobulan Solstice decorations in sickbay. The decorations took the form of multicolored flags with writing in what Archer assumed was Phlox's native language. Archer thought they gave an almost Buddhist look to the room. Phlox confirmed the language and told him they were verses on the joys of families, each grouping having a slightly different color combination.

At Trip's door, he had to laugh. His chief engineer had a Santa in a Hawaiian Shirt with a straw hat on. The jolly old elf was hauling a boatload of toys on a sailboat and instead of reindeer, there were dolphins surrounding the boat. "I wonder if he gave them names." He had to take another look when he saw the one dolphin with a red snout. "Must be Rudolph."

When he came to T'Pol's door, he stopped.

With a grin, he recognized the crafted IDIC symbol gracing her door. T'Pol had found yet another way to connect with the crew. He thought about how far she had come in almost five years. No longer did he have to encourage her to fraternize with the crew. She was still somewhat reserved, of course. She was Vulcan. Still, the crew had conceptually embraced her and she them. He approved.

Finally arriving at his own door, he smiled. He hadn't decided on what to put up. However, a day into the frenzied decorating, he'd found a simple velour red and white stocking hung on his door. Each day, he'd find a few cards or notes, an occasional small box of some treat, and even some gifts of cheese for Porthos. The latter had to be doled out to his pet to assure the dog didn't get too fat. After he read the cards, he'd stick them on the door surrounding the stocking. His door was almost covered.

He hadn't expected this spontaneous outpouring when he'd given this permission to the crew. It made his heart glad and grateful. After the Expanse he knew he'd changed. He certainly wasn't the same man who'd started out wide-eyed at the possibilities of exploring deep space. Seeing how much his crew still cared went a long way to healing the deep wounds that had never quite gone away. He collected the days little gifts and went into his quarters. "Porthos, you've got some cheddar," could be heard right before the door closed.


End file.
